Wild Try To Solve Ducks' Goaltender

ST. PAUL, Minn. -- The Anaheim Mighty Ducks are winning the close ones, and they've been nearly unbeatable away from home.

Minnesota must find a way to reverse those two trends to avoid falling behind 2-0 in the Western Conference finals.

The Mighty Ducks improved to 5-0 in overtime games and 5-1 on the road by beating the Wild 1-0 in two extra periods Saturday. Game 2 is tonight in St. Paul.

"You've got to win a game in their building anyway to advance, so you might as well get it over with early," Mighty Ducks center Adam Oates said after practice Sunday at the University of Minnesota.

Anaheim also got 39 saves from Jean-Sebastien Giguere and a few fortunate bounces to beat the Wild, continuing a trend that developed in the first two rounds. In sweeping defending champion Detroit and beating Dallas 4-2, the Ducks won the first two games on the road in both of the series.

Taking a 2-0 lead back to the Arrowhead Pond would be a huge step toward Anaheim's firstever trip to the Stanley Cup Finals.

"This is not a lucky thing," coach Mike Babcock said. "We've worked hard all year and deserve to be here."

The Wild feel the same way, and they aren't fretting about the loss. Vancouver rallied from a 3-1 third-period deficit to win Game 1 of their second-round series with Minnesota 4-3 in overtime, but the Wild won the last three games to advance.

"I think we played well enough to win the game," coach Jacques Lemaire said after an optional skate-around in Minneapolis. "We can't play much better than we did there."

The Wild could have easily won in regulation were it not for Giguere, who improved to 9-2 in the playoffs and extended his overtime shutout streak to a near-record 160 minutes, 49 seconds.

"Our goalie saved our bacon," Babcock said. But he reminded reporters that "the other team has a goalie, too."